


Are You Sure It's Not A Crush?

by upsetslingshot



Category: Ghosts (TV 2019)
Genre: Aromantic, Asexual Character, Friendship, Gen, One-Sided Attraction, Though It's Not Said By Name, squish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-27 13:07:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20046520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/upsetslingshot/pseuds/upsetslingshot
Summary: "And now the fourth person he has a crush on is Robin. God knows how that happened."Julian maybe has a crush on Robin. Robin definitely has a big old aroace squish on Julian.Julian, however, had not quite figured that out.





	Are You Sure It's Not A Crush?

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still on my aro kick and Julian is a ho  
Enjoy!

So far, as a ghost, Julian has had a crush on 3 people. And now it’s 4. These were all the other ghosts by the way, he had enough sense to not go for living people like Thomas constantly tried to do.

Julian had only been dead for 8 months by this point.

The first was the Captain (obviously). He was the (current) leader, and a bit of a bastard, just like Julian likes. It also didn’t help than whenever Julian flirted with him, the Captain would just get more flustered and embarrassed, which was, he might add, incredibly cute.

But as time passed and the two fell into a balanced camaraderie, and it became apparent that Julian wasn’t going to get anywhere, that feeling died down and eventually vanished all together.

The next person he got a crush on was Kitty. Because she was pretty, and fun and, god, exactly like a kid. That one didn’t last even a week before Julian got too put off by her child-like nature.

The third person was Thomas. That was embarrassing. Not that anyone knew of course, he was good at keeping things like that hidden. Feelings and all that. Anyway, even the idea of having a crush on Thomas drove him off having a crush on Thomas and Julian got over that quickly.

And now the fourth person he has a crush on is Robin. God knows how that happened. He was just teaching Robin how to play chess one night (though Julian has a sneaking suspicion that Robin already knew how to play. He was smart… and a bastard) and Julian looked up and felt a punch in the chest as he saw the sheer amount of glee on Robin’s face.

Julian wanted to make that appear again.

Fuck.

That really did sneak up on him.

It had been nearly a month at this point.

And to make matters even more worse by 1000x, Julian was absolutely certain Robin had a crush on him.

Robin was constantly trying to hang out with him, playing chess or going wandering in the woods with him. He was always chattering with Julian (and Julian was, amazingly, becoming good at understanding what Robin was trying to say). At first Julian just thought Robin was trying to help him get through being dead, it wasn’t hard to imagine he’d focus most on the most recently deceased, especially seeing as Pat said Robin shares a bed with everyone on their first night.

But then it started to go on a bit.

Julian had first noticed it a couple of months after he had died, around when he was starting to like the Captain. Julian had even noticed Robin getting jealous whenever he flirted with the Captain (or perhaps that was stop the Captain from feeling uncomfortable now that Julian thinks about it). Julian had tried to ignore it but it almost seemed like Robin was laser-focused on him.

Mary had said this was the most sociable she had ever seen him.

That was worrying.

God, really it wasn’t even though Julian was put off by Robin’s appearance, he was immediately down to fuck the first night of his death, but the fact that Julian desperately wanted to kiss Robin (again, properly this time) in ways that didn’t strictly lead to sex made matters even worse.

He didn’t even think Robin was human.

And now, here they both were, once again sat apart from the rest of the group, playing chess. The others were talking about something but in all honesty, Julian wasn’t paying the slightest bit of attention. Chess was incredibly hard to play when you have to remember where all the pieces are.

Robin wasn’t having much difficulty though. He was staring at Julian with those mischievous eyes, and a huge beam on his face. Julian tried not to look. The constant skips of his heart would distract him from chess (or perhaps they were just the remnants of the heart attack which killed him). Or at least, his imagining of his heart. He didn’t actually think their hearts could beat anymore.

Come on, Julian, get over this one and move on, once you’ve gone around the house and gotten it all out of your system you’re all going to settle down as non-romantically or sexually aligned family.

And he needed to convey that to Robin, because as long as Robin was interested, Julian wouldn’t stop.

“Julian!” The Cap’s voice caused Julian to jump.

“What? Can it wait?” Julian muttered, not stopping focusing on the chessboard.

“It was just to say we’re all going to bed.” Cap said.

“Okay.” Julian said. Rook is in E5. Rook is in E5. Rook is in E5.

“Night!” Robin chirped. “We finish chess.” Robin’s voice rolled over Julian in a bizarre comforting way. Rook E5! Rook E5! Rook E5!

There were sounds and Julian guessed the rest of the ghosts left the room.

Julian lifted his eyes from the board and onto Robin, who’s eyes were now flitting across the board at lightning speed, he was probably planning for several moves ahead. He was smart like that. Despite what the other ghosts say.

“You go?”

Julian blinked, he hadn’t even noticed Robin had moved.

“Where did you… go?” Julian asked.

“Horsie goes here.” Robin said, pointing the route the knight took.

Julian hummed and stared at the board for a moment. Where did he put his queen?

He looked from the board, to Robin and back to the board. Queen. Queen. Queen.

“Go?” Robin said again.

Julian hummed again.

“Forgot?” Robin asked.

Julian looked back up and nodded slightly.

Robin lent closer and pointed at the squares, listing what was where.

Ah. So that was where his queen was.

Julian hummed again.

That was a bad place. Why did you put it there, moron?

“You know what,” Julian said. “I forfeit. You win.”

“Oh.” Robin’s hands dropped down into his lap. “So no more play. Or play again?”

“No, I think I’ll go to bed too.” Julian muttered.

“Oh. Okay.” Robin said.

No no no, he didn’t want to make Robin upset.

“We’ll play again tomorrow, don’t worry.”

“Okay!” Robin brightened up.

“Come on, let’s go.” Julian said. He stood up and left the room, Robin following suite.

They walked down a corridor and glanced over to Robin. He was trailing alongside Julian, a soft smile on his face.

Okay, so quick side-note: Julian may have done an outrageous amount of cocaine in the 70s and 80s which led to him losing his sense of smell. Which was very fortunate because according to the others, Robin smells awful, like dirt and rotting meat. Perhaps that was why everyone else often left Julian to it when he was hanging out with Robin.

That too didn’t help, as a lot of the time Julian and Robin were often alone.

They reached Julian’s room and Julian stopped and Robin continued.

“Bye to tomorrow.” Robin said waving.

“Yes, yes, yes, yes.” Julian muttered. You know what, Julian, do something, either fail or get it on, then you can move on. “Hey, Robin.”

Robin hummed and turned back to Julian.

Julian jerked his head towards his room and stepped through the door. Robin appeared by his side a second later.

“Yes?” Robin asked.

Julian took a breath and clapped his hands on Robin’s shoulders, moving him more into the room.

“Yes?” Robin asked again.

“Look, Robin, let’s not beat around the bush here.” Julian said. “You like me, don’t you.” That was not a question.

Robin frowned before smiling and nodding. “Yes.”

Julian ran his fingers through Robin’s fur. “I like you too.”

Robin’s smile grew into an excited beam.

Julian raised his hands from Robin’s shoulders to Robin’s hair. He threaded his fingers through it and stepped closer.

Robin looked up at Julian, his smile dropping a tad and a slight frown appearing on his face. “Been wanting to be best friends since you arrived.” He said.

Julian smiled and tilted his head to a side. ‘Best friend’. That was a funny way to describe it. Must be Robin struggling with English again.

“Oh sure, whatever you like to call it.” Julian purred. He petted Robin’s hair a few more times.

Robin’s smile completed fell. He blinked a couple of times before his eyes widened. He blinked again and plastered a smile on his face. “Good, best friends. Spend more time together.” He pulled his head out of Julian’s grip and stepped backwards. “Talk more. Is good.” Then he took a step towards the door. “Night now, sleep, see you tomorrow, Julian.”

Robin was panicking. Why was he panicking?

“Come on, Robin, you don’t need to go so soon.” Julian said.

“Gotta go asleep.” Robin muttered. He tried to take another step towards the door but Julian intercepted him.

“Come on, we don’t have to hide anything, don’t be scared.” He said, taking a step towards Robin.

“Errrrrr.” Robin took a step backwards. “Scared?”

“Yeah, come on, we both like each other.” Julian took another step forward and raised his hands to Robin’s head again, leaning closer, so close, so close. “So there’s no reason so be-”

“No.” Robin pushed Julian away and leapt back. “No do that. Julian, not that.”

Julian scowled and straightened his jacket. “Now really, Robin, what do you expect me to do.”

“Why do that?” Robin cried.

“Why- why would I- I…? Robin, I like you. I thought you liked me.”

“Do like you!”

“Then, to be frank I don’t see what the issue is.” Julian stepped forward again, but again, Robin jumped back.

“Don’t touch.” There was actual fear in his eyes now.

Julian froze. “Robin, I’m not going to hurt you.” Was that the issue?

“Know won’t hurt me.” Robin muttered.

“Then what, Robin, what is it, tell me, what’s wrong?” Julian said.

“Want to be friend.” Robin said quietly.

Julian frowned. “I don’t- I don’t get- it, I thought you liked- I thought you liked me.”

“Do like you?”

“No,” Julian said. “I thought you ‘like liked’ me.”

“‘Like liked’?” Robin repeated, clearly confused.

“Yeah, you know, like like.” Julian said. “I thought you had a crush on me.”

“A crush?” Robin screwed his face up as he tried to figure out what Julian said.

“Yeah, I thought you wanted to date me.” Julian said.

“Date?” Robin really wasn’t getting this.

“That you were romantically interested in me.” Julian spelled out.

Robin gasped and took another step back. “No.”

“No, ‘not romantically interested in me’?”

“Not.”

“Sexually?”

“No!” Robin all but screeched.

“Well, why did you act like you were?” Julian asked, crossing his arms and drumming his fingers against them.

“Didn’t!”

“Yes, you did.”

“Didn’t!” Robin repeated. “Didn’t do that.”

“Yes, you did.” Julian stressed. “You got jealous when I was spending more time with the Captain than you, you only ever seem to want to hang out with me, you just focused on me, pretty much ignoring everyone else. How else am I meant to take that?” Julian put his hands on his hips and glared.

“Just wanna be friend.” Robin whimpered. He wrapped his arms around himself and looked down. “Really wanna be friend. Really strong want to be friend. Nothing like with others. Only to you.”

“You- you only want to be friends with me?” Julian asked.

Robin shook his head. “Like to be friend with others. Try to be friend to others. Only you want.”

Julian sighed and dragged a hand across his face. “I don’t get it.” He eventually said. “Rob- you… It sounds like a crush, are you sure it’s- it’s not a crush?”

Robin nodded. “Only want you to be friend, nothing else.”

Julian sighed again and the room fell into silence for several minutes, that was until Robin finally raised his head.

“If… you want… that, to be friend… I…”

“No, Robin, we’re not doing that if it repulses you.” Julian said, cutting Robin off before he could continue. “I don’t need anything to be your friend.”

“Sorry, making you think else.”

“It’s not your fault.” Julian sighed. He had been doing that a lot this during this conversation. Sighing. “So,” Julian then continued. “You want to be my friend and you’re feeling that with the same intensity as a crush, right?”

“Don’t know what ‘crush’ feel like.” Robin muttered.

“Well, from the sounds of it, you are.” Julian said. “You know what, Robin, whatever. Forget it. Go to bed.”

Robin’s shoulders slumped. “Mad at me.”

“No- I- Robin- I’m not- I’m not mad at you.” Julian said. Really he shouldn’t be mad at what Robin felt.

‘Shouldn’t’ being the key word here.

Best not let Robin know otherwise.

“Really, I’m not mad at you.” Julian repeated. He gently lowered a hand on Robin’s shoulder but still winced as he saw Robin flinch. “Let’s just go to bed and tomorrow pretend like this didn’t happen.”

Robin nodded softly.

“Sorry.” He said quietly.

“Don’t be.” Julian said. He patted Robin’s shoulder again and stepped away.

“Okay. Right. Goodnight.” And at that, Robin practically fled the room.

Julian sighed and threw himself down on his bed.

If he could scream into a pillow he would have.

* * *

The next day it was clear the others knew something was wrong.

Well, it was hard to ignore when Robin shot out of the room every time Julian entered.

It was during the 6th time this happened was Julian confronted.

“Good God, Julian, what have you done to the man?” The Captain snapped eventually.

“I haven’t done anything.” Julian insisted.

“You’ve clearly done something to cause him to keep running away from you.”

“Look, I’ve done nothing wrong. You should be asking what he’s done to me.”

“Well then. What did he do to you?”

“Nothing, it’s private business.” Julian hmpfed.

“Well go and sort it out then.” The Captain shouted. “We can’t be doing with this… Drama!”

Julian huffed and stalked out of the room to go find Robin. What, is he supposed to apologise? Really, it wasn’t his fault. Robin was confusing him.

He eventually found Robin in the kitchen, sat under the table. Pat was crouched beside him.

Oh, God. Was Robin crying?

Pat was talking quietly. Julian couldn’t hear him.

Julian coughed and both Pat and Robin jumped. Robin scrambled out from under the table and Pat positioned himself in between the two.

“Okay, Julian, Robin’s told me what happened.” Pat said. Why did Robin blab? This should have been personal. “We can sort this out no problem.”

“Pat, I don’t need a mediator.” Julian said.

Instead Pat turned to Robin. “Would you like me to be here?”

Robin shrugged and started to pick at the fur on his shirt… dress thing. He wasn’t looking at Julian.

“Right, okay. No problem. I’ll leave you to it. Remember. Communication is the key.” Pat said. “I’ll just be outside if you need me.” And at that, Pat left the room.

The pair stood in awkward silence for a couple of minutes before Julian broke it.

“So you only like me as a friend.” Julian clarified.

Robin nodded and said. “Didn’t know it seems like different. Thought you know what it was. Didn’t know you feel different. Sorry.”

Julian sighed.

“You did confuse me.” Julian said. “A lot, quite a lot.”

“You… only like I… for that?” Robin asked.

“What? No, no, no.” Julian hammered out. “I like you even without all that.”

“Felt like that. Felt bad. Didn’t think wanted me around without that.” Robin mumbled.

“I know, I know. I do want you around even just as a friend. I really do.” Julian said. “I’m…” He took a deep breath. “Sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to feel bad. I shouldn’t have gone so full on when I wasn’t entirely sure.”

Robin nodded finally looked over at Julian. God, his eyes were red. Julian really wanted to make happy again. As a friend. As a friend. As a friend. As a friend.

“What do now?” Robin asked.

“Well, what we do, is that I get over it and we move on just as friends.” Julian said. That was the only thing they could do. Julian really didn’t want to get rid of one of the only positive relationships he had. “But that is, if- if you- if you still want.”

Robin nodded and then broke into a smile. “Best friend?”

“Fine, yes, if you want.”

“Yes! What me want. You?”

“Of course,” Julian said. “You’re the best person here. Besides myself of course.”

Robin laughed and seemed to vibrate in excitement.

“Good.” Julian clapped his hands together. “Now we can get on with our life… death.”

“We play chess?” Robin asked, still smiling.

“Alright then, let’s go.” Julian gestured to leave the kitchen and followed as Robin did that.

Come on, Julian, you can get over this one easily. Robin definitely doesn’t want that so we can just move on easily. Robin is shaped like a friend only. Robin is shaped like a friend only. Robin is shaped like a friend only.

“Are you too good now?” Pat said, coming out of nowhere.

Robin nodded Pat beamed and continued to talk as all three made their way to the main hall.

Mmm…

Pat is quite nice isn’t he.

**Author's Note:**

> I swear I'll write something which isn't just my musing about aromanticism next.


End file.
